We begin the week here on My Poetic Side with a look at Kavanagh’s Death Mask which will be going up for auction, the British poet whose first novel has been snapped up for the big screen and the art exhibition inspired by poetry and clouds.

Poet”s Death Mask to go up for Auction

Shepherd’s Belmont House will be holding a three-day online auction next week, starting on Wednesday 3^rd February. The sale will be online in accordance with current Covid-19 guidelines and is expected to gain a lot of interest with one of the star lots being a small Ming blue and white bowl that is no bigger than a matchbox. One of the other lots that they are hoping will draw a lot of interest is something a little different.

The lot includes a death mask of the poet Patrick Kavanagh. This is one of the three death masks that was made by Séamus Murphy the Cork artist. The pair first met in 1943 and the mould for the mask was made by Murphy on 1^st December 1967 shortly after Kavanagh’s death. The auctioneers, Hegarty’s are hoping that the mask will fetch between €6,000 -€9,000.

This is an evocative and rare piece that has come onto the market during what has become a particularly relevant time for the power of poetry. There are two other examples of this mask, both made in plaster, the first is housed in the Writers Museum in Dublin, the second can be seen at the Patrick Kavanagh Centre which is in Monaghan.

British Poet Receives Huge Boost Courtesy of Idris Elba

Salena Godden, the British poet, has received a huge boost at the hands of Idris Elba who has snapped up the TV and film right to “Mrs Death Misses Death” her debut novel. The novel is a dark comedy which tells the tale of a young author who is asked to write the memoirs for Death. It has only just been released.

Green Door Pictures is Elba’s production banner and they have acquired full rights to the novel. Elba says that he was drawn immediately to the writing of the novel and is looking forward to bringing it to the screen. Godden, who is of Jamaican-Irish parentage, was born in the UK and now lives in London. She has published several collections of poetry and has had her work anthologised in a number of different collections.

Wilding Museum Opens New Exhibition

The Wilding Museum of Art and Nature, California has opened their 2021 season with a new art exhibition that offers something a little different to visitors. The Museum, which is currently closed to the public because of the pandemic, has created a new art exhibition that can be seen from the outside of the museum.

The Tower Gallery installation offers visitors the chance to look at artwork based on clouds with foliage and even simulated rain showers created by large crystal chandeliers. The artist Holli Harmon has taken her inspiration from a number of sources including the work of Luke Howard, the 19th-century British meteorologist who created the classification system for clouds, and the poets Johann Goethe with his cloud poetry, and Mark Strand, a contemporary poet.